Noisy Bellari VP 129?

by RCA to RCA, I mean connect an RCA Cable from one to one of the outer ground sleeves of the Belari, to one on the preamp. I don't recall if the Belari has any extra RCA's that are unused when your table is connected - but if not use an aligator clip or other means to connect to the Belari. On the preamp end I cut the center + post out of an RCA connector - leaving only the outer cuff.

I recommend you try this multiple ways - RCA-RCA, Ground Post on the Belari to RCA on the Pre, and RCA on the Belari to Ground post on the Pre. During one of my first calls to Belari the guy told me to connect a jumper from the outer RCA on the Belari to the ground post (on the Belari). I did this and it made no difference. This whole idea seemed illogical to me at the time, so I didn't go further with it. I ended up sending mine back to the factory where they changed the tube and returned it to me - same exact issue. I sent it back and they sent me a new one - same issue. Then I worked out a jumper to give me a ** good solid ground **. My recollection is that mine went from the Belari Ground post to an un-used RCA on my Exposure RC21 Pre. The result was total silence. By the way - I also had a Music Hall MMF Phono pack at the time, and had experienced a similar buzz, though not as bad. The same jumper eliminated that problem too.

My point is don't give up after one try. Fiddling with a ground is much easier than sending the unit back.

Hi Fishwater, I plugged my son's Grado SR 60 headphones into the rear jack with no input and turned the volume up half way and then all the way. No hum. No sound at all. Seems like you might have a bum unit.

I was not able to mess around with it much tonight but I'll take another shot tomorrow and let you know if I can offer any better suggestions.

I have removed the cover of the Bellari to inspect the ground, it is secure. I used a jumper to connect the ground of the Bellari to various grounds on my power conditioner, still noisy. Whenever the Bellari is plugged in it is noisy, even with the mute on. As soon as I unplug the power the noise goes away. I thought at one point while connecting an external ground the noise went away but every other time I have tried it the noise is still there? I will call Bellari & see what they have to say or this has to be sent back.

How about trying to float the ground with one of those two pronged adapters from Home Depot. If this is a ground loop, that should take care of it.

I had enough, I went out and bought a new Cambridge Audio 640p. I can finally sit down & listen vs. try to fix. Should be a great weekend. Thanks for all your help guys, I appreciate it.